Government should wake up to scourge of illegal LEDs

The Indian LED lighting industry is going through a boom phase. According to some estimates, the market has grown at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17.5 per cent between 2009 and 2016 and is now worth around $3.7 billion (with LEDs at around 40 per cent of the market share). This makes the industry worth much more than the total GDP of over two dozen countries around the world. The Modi government’s Unnat Jeevan by Affordable LEDs and Appliances for All (UJALA) programme, the world’s largest non-subsidised LED bulb distribution scheme, has given the industry an added push.